Citizenship education and diversity: implications for teacher education by Banks (2008)

Banks wishes to revamp citizenship education in schools and describes one of the ways on how to instruct future teachers to support this idea.  He argues for, what Kymlicka (1995) calls, multicultural citizenship to be the new form of citizenship everyone should acquire because of the rapidly growing diversity in societies around the world- which has contributed to countless inequalities including institutional racism, economic inequality and social injustice.  Multicultural citizenship will not only support multiple identities, which one needs in order to effectively navigate in today’s world, but also support individuals as knowledge creators so they can help contribute to a more just world society.  

The author suggests maintaining a balance of local, national and global identities. Perhaps first and foremost, local identities need to be respected and acknowledged.  First, it serves as a safe space for individuals to express their individuality and keep a bond with their relatives and friends. A point he makes by Apter (1977) shows why this is potentially beneficial in that it fulfills a kind of psychological and sociological need for each ethnic group which mainstream culture has removed (Banks, 2008). Secondly, Banks (2008) believes that if ones culture is protected and treated justly they are then better able and willing to support and protect others such as other communities like their nation. Thirdly, it is stated that one can strengthen their ability to empathise with others; if one distances him or herself from their particular backgrounds they can lose the opportunity to connect, collaborate or even help others that share some similarities.  

Banks further writes that one needs to form a positive national identity and cautions states to refrain from ignoring and alienating other cultural groups.  Since all identities are interrelated (Banks, 2008) if one’s national identity, and loyalty, is not stable it will jeopardize the nation’s ability to be an effective player in the global community. The author uses the term blind nationalism to explain this consequence where ultimately people may retreat and focus only on their local goals and issues. In other words, in order to have a positive national identity one must have strong cultural identity, and with a stable national identification sets the stage for a global- minded citizen.        

In addition, Banks also highlights the need to be reflective and critical of all identities, questioning not only their nation’s history, goals and beliefs, but their own as well. This points to another important skill teachers should not only practice but instruct their students about which is challenging current knowledge, such as the metanarrative of the US. He basically wants people to ask themselves why and how did this information come to be.  Further, he believes teachers can help make their students aware of how their own cultures narratives came to be and look at the way they are represented by others. Ideally, Banks believes that with all of this information and reflection on personal experience one could help create new knowledge to enhance the quality of society.

A point I appreciated in the reading was the section about rethinking race, culture and ethnicity.  Colour blindness, or racial blindness, is a common practice that some people have taken on thinking that it is beneficial for society.  As mentioned above, to disregard a culture can have negative consequences.  An interesting point was made on how this can secretly be used to assimilate cultures and instill the mainstream culture further into society.  I also liked how it was mentioned that this reflective practice is lifelong, one cannot exactly master being a perfect citizen in a continuously changing world. I would have liked to see more about how global identities can support local identities, and how one can teach to be a positive global citizen.

Reference:

Banks, J. (2008). Citizenship education and diversity: Implications for teacher education. In Peter, M. Britton, A. & Blee, H. (Eds.), Global citizenship education (pp. 317-332). Rotterdam: Sense